Shop Local: Grand National Winner Emmet Mullins Nets Big-Money Sale 

His roots may be deeply entrenched in National Hunt racing and just this spring he won the most famous jumps race of them all–the Grand National with Noble Yeats (Ire) (Yeats {Ire})–but Emmet Mullins has now netted himself yet another major payday–this time on the Flat with a filly that he bred, owned and trained to win a maiden at his local track before selling her for six figures. 

Thebestisyettobe (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) became the second 2-year-old winner of Mullins's career when sluicing up in the opening seven-furlong maiden at Gowran Park on Saturday and, in the process, announced herself to the international market.

Duckett's Grove was Mullins's first juvenile scorer and, like that Point Of Entry colt who the trainer sold after he broke his maiden tag at the first attempt at Cork back in 2018, Thebestisyettobe is set for export and has already passed the vet. 

“That's just the second 2-year-old winner I have trained and it was done from start to finish with Thebestisyettobe, I suppose,” he said. “I bought the mare, bred her locally there in Ballyhane to Elzaam (Aus) through Joe Foley. It was fairytale stuff really.”

Mullins picked up the dam [Kramer Drive (Ire) (Medicean {GB})] of Thebestisyettobe for just €18,000 at the mixed sale at Goffs in February 2016. 

“Elzaam is hugely commercial and is also great value. He's constantly getting nice horses and is very desirable on the international market as well as here” – Emmet Mullins, trainer

She has become a proven source of winners, with three of her foals of racing age winning a hatful of races–none more so than Ventura Flame (Ire), by another Ballyhane-based stallion in Dandy Man (Ire), who has won seven in Britain–and Thebestisyettobe shaped like she could be the best of them at Gowran Park.

Mullins said, “Kramer Drive has been a good servant. I sold her first foal as a yearling, Shadow Breaker (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}), for €12,000 and he went on to make good money after he won a barrier trial for Jimmy Coogan.

“The second foal was Ventura Flame, who I got €48,000 for at the breeze-ups to Middleham Park, and she has won seven races for Keith Dalgleish in Britain.

“Midgetonamission (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) has won two for David Evans and this one [Thebestisyettobe] was in the sales last year as a yearling but she didn't make enough so I got Martin Wanless to buy her back for me.”

A decision to shop local with Elzaam, who stands less than 10 minutes from Mullins's base, has proved fruitful with the trainer lauding Foley's stallion and describing him as exceptional value. 

Mullins said, “Elzaam is hugely commercial and is also great value. He's constantly getting nice horses and is very desirable on the international market as well as here.”

With the benefit of a barrier trial under her belt, where she showed distinct promise and afterwards Mullins fielded a couple of inquiries, Thebestisyettobe showed an abundance of ability in accounting for a well-touted Joseph O'Brien-trained filly to get off the mark at Gowran Park. 

Less than a week after that highly promising debut, the filly is set to leave Mullins's yard after passing all of the veterinary procedures that come with selling to foreign jurisdictions. 

He said, “We got a couple of inquiries after the barrier trial but I felt that I wouldn't get what I wanted for her so I told them [the agents] to keep an eye out for her and that she'd be running in a few weeks and hopefully she will show her true colours. Joseph's filly [Karaoke (Ire) (Acclamation {GB})]was highly-touted and, while I didn't think Thebestisyettobe was a good thing to go and win, I knew she'd run a big race.”

Mullins added, “Fingers crossed, she's passed all of the vetting and we're just waiting on the blood work. I think she's going to America.”

As well as Kramer Drive, Mullins breeds a couple of National Hunt broodmares with his cousin and champion amateur jockey Patrick. The pair have had quite a lot of success, too. 

Screaming Witness (Ire) (Shernazar {GB}) has produced a Grade 1-winning novice hurdler in Airlie Beach (Ire) (Shantou) while the cousins are also breeding from the foundation mare's daughter, the bumper and hurdle-winning Dr Machini (Ire) (Dr Massini {Ire}). 

Mullins said, “Patrick and I have two broodmares. I have a leg of Screaming Witness with Patrick. We also bought back her first foal, Dr Machini, after she raced for the Pottses. “Screaming Witness has been an unbelievable broodmare for us. She has had five runners on the track and the five of them were bumper winners.

“Airlie Beach won the G1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle while Screaming Rose (Ire) (Darsi {Fr}) also got black-type for her so she was a huge foundation mare. 

“We have two more out of Screaming Witness–a 2-year-old and a yearling–but she has been retired now as she's quite old. We have a few of Dr Machini's foals on the ground as well. So Patrick and I are breeding those National Hunt mares but I decided to take a chance on this Flat mare in 2016.”

Mullins added, “I'd like to keep about four mares around the place–that's a good number. So two National Hunt mares and maybe two on the Flat. You'd have a lot of stock on the ground breeding out of three or four mares for a few years. 

“Kramer Drive was actually unlucky this year. She had a filly foal by Profitable (Ire) who was born on the morning of the Grand National. I thought she was destined to be lucky but, unfortunately, there were complications and we lost her that week. The mare is back in foal to Make Believe (GB). We are staying local-this time with Ballylinch and not Ballyhane!”

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Equine Herpes Detected at Yard of Dr Richard Newland

The British Horseracing Authority has confirmed an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV) at the yard of Grand National-winning trainer Dr Richard Newland in Worcestershire.
Movement restrictions have been placed on the yard to limit any future spread while further sampling is under way to determine the exact strain, which has yet to be confirmed but is thought to be EHV-1.
As of yet the BHA is not aware of any confirmed cases in any other yards but trainers and vets have been asked to be vigilant to clinical signs of EHV and advise twice daily temperature checks for all horses.
While there is a low risk of transmission in a bio-secure raceday environment, there is a slight chance the horses were infectious before showing symptoms so trainers with runners at Uttoxeter, Worcester and Southwell on June 2, 4 and 6 respectively have been asked to be especially alert to signs of the disease.
The most common strain of EHV is EHV-1 which causes respiratory disease, abortion in pregnant mares and neurological disease in horses of all ages and types. EHV-4 is also common which usually only causes low-grade respiratory disease but can occasionally cause abortion.
Once horses have been infected they can carry it silently and it can reactivate later in life.

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Doyle says Major Oaks Player Nashwa is ‘Everything You Want in a Racehorse’

Hollie Doyle has described Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) as being “everything you want in a racehorse” ahead of her bid to become the first female rider to win a Classic when she partners John and Thady Goden's rapidly-improving filly in the Cazoo Oaks at Epsom on Friday. 

Doyle is well used to breaking boundaries at this stage, with her tally of 152 winners in 2021 surpassing her own record of winners in a calendar year for a female jockey.

She has also ridden two five-timers, became the first woman to be successful on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot and finished third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Doyle now appears to have her best chance yet of becoming the first woman to ride a British Classic winner aboard Nashwa, who is second in the betting behind stablemate Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Taking inspiration from Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore, Doyle admits it would be a huge moment for women in sport if she can strike Classic gold.

“It would be an absolute dream come true. You're always looking to progress throughout your career and it would be another box ticked,” she said.

“Like Rachael Blackmore winning the Grand National, winning a British Classic is something I dream of doing over the next 10 years or so, so if it could happen on Friday it would be great.

“Look at the reaction there was when Rachael won the Grand National. It's one of the toughest horse races in the world to win and she did that, so if I could win a British Classic it would be a dream come true for me personally and could hopefully inspire other women to get into the sport. It's a great opportunity to get a ride with a live chance.”

Seen by many as a trailblazer, Doyle has become accustomed to the extra attention that generates and insists she is fully focussed about the task in hand.

“I'm fairly used to it now. Every time I've done something new this is what happens, which is great,” she said in a Qipco British Champions Series Zoom call on Monday.

“I'm used to it and take it all in my stride. Ultimately I'm a jockey and I've got a job to do, that's how I approach it.”

Nashwa brings strong claims to the table, having built on the promise of a third-placed finish at Newmarket on her sole juvenile start with impressive wins at Haydock and Newbury this spring.

The one question that remains unanswered ahead of her appearance at Epsom is whether her stamina will last out on her first start over a mile and a half, but Doyle is optimistic.

She said, “I was very pleased with the performance at Newbury, as at Haydock I kind of gave her a no excuses ride, jumped out in the box seat and she was a little bit gassy.

“Stepping up into listed company at Newbury, I just wanted to ride her quietly to see how she'd relax and go through the gears and she relaxed beautifully-and was very responsive when I asked her.

“To me there was no definitive answer off the back of that performance whether she'd stay a mile and a half or not, but I think she ticks a lot of boxes that need ticking, so we'll find out won't we?”

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Rachel Blackmore To Contend For BBC SPOTY World Sport Star Award

The first female jockey to claim the Cheltenham Festival Leading Jockey title, including a Champion Hurdle win aboard Honeysuckle, Rachel Blackmore is the leading fancy for this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year World Sport Star award. According to the Irish Independent, voting for the award opened on Monday at bbc.com and will close at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

The award will be presented during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show live on BBC One on Sunday, Dec. 19.

Also in 2021, Blackmore became the first woman to ride the winner of the iconic Grand National with her success on Minella Times. Prior to Blackmore's win, the closest a female jockey had come to winning the world's most famous steeplechase race was Katie Walsh's third on Seabass in 2012.

In her post-race interview, Blackmore told the world: “I don't feel male or female right now, I don't even feel human. This is just unbelievable.”

Blackmore will be awarded the 2021 Irish Racing Hero Award at the annual Horse Racing Ireland Awards in December.

Other nominees for the 2021 BBC World Sport Star award include: boxing champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, American football's Tom Brady, tennis' Novak Djokovic, five-time Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.

Read more at the Independent.

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